Chapter 149 - The Waste Land

Clara turns around to give the body one more look before continuing with their journey, this time around Hannah couldn't complain after what happened, she knew they have to continue with going forward. Meanwhile,e all this time that they have been walking in the mountain, news has already gone to the Wallace family about the request for back up and they have already stationed themselves on the places that are linked to the Carpie town since they don't have any idea of the path they are going to take. 

The sun was already out and they could still be seen walking in the mountain looking exhausted, especially Hannah who could hardly keep her eyes open. 

"Are we there yet" asked Hannah while struggling to walk.

"Not quite, we still have a long way to go once we get out of the mountain" replied Clara.

Letting out a deep sigh as she continued to walk, not even trying to complain but it was not the same thing with Jason, who business thinking about her they are going to avoid the others since their mother is not in a good state to fight.

"There is no need thinking too much about it, the least you guys could do is look for a place to his completely healed completely heal, and maybe by them they would have given up on the search" said the bracelet.

"Only if we could but you can see that she is seriously injured so there is no way we can hide completely healed completely heal" replied Jason.

"If only you still had enough pill to cure internal injuries, it wouldn't have been a problem to get rid of the injuries" said the bracelet.

After traveling for a long time, they were able to get to the wasteland but instead of continuing their journey, they decided to take a little break. Taking out a jar of water, Clara passed it to Hannah before giving them food to eat. Taking a rest, Clara told Jason to reinforce his realm before she also went into meditation.

"So when are you going to tell them about your secret" asked the bracelet.

"When I feel like it is the right time I will but for now I just want to keep it to myself" replied Jason.

"Then you should learn to keep it hidden instead of giving stupid excuse cause" said the bracelet.

"It was an accident alright, how do you expect me to avoid coming in contact with his body" replied Jason.

After they were done resting, they continue with their journey but as they were about to step into the wasteland, Clara instructed them to stop which makes them confused as to why would their mother stop them all of a sudden when there is no danger ahead.

"Why are we stopping" asked Hannah as she took a look at her mother who was scanning the area.

"We are about to step foot into the wasteland and according to the rumors going around, it is not the best place to be" replies Clara with a frown.

"I don't see any danger here so if you asked me I would say it is safe for us to continue" said Jason.

"Not all danger could be seen on the surface Jason, some of the deadliest beasts are hidden underground while waiting patiently for their prey to come to them" replied Clara.

"You mean there are beasts hidden underground" asked Hannah in surprise.

"That is right. If they were to be found on the surface, it would have been quite easy for travelers to pass through, but since the majority of the beast is hidden underground, making it across would be very difficult since you will have to be very wary of where you stepped foot on" replied Clara.

"Since they are hidden underground, how are we supposed to cross to the other side" asked Hannah.

"You can leave that to me. You see after my many years of hunting in the beast territory, I have grown to know where a beast could be hidden and where it wouldn't" replied Jason with a proud look on his face.

Seeing her brother boosting, Hannah couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment before turning to look at their mother as she asked the question again.

"Mother what are we going to do".

"I don't know Hannah but just give me some time to think things through okay" replied Clara with a smile before turning to look at the wasteland.

Jason was left speechless by his little sister who acted like he was not even there when he actually had a way out of the wasteland without getting attacked by the beast.

"Hey I said that I can get us out of this place so don't worry" said Jason to Hannah as he tries to reassure her.

Getting annoyed by her brother, Hannah gave him a look for a while before speaking up.

"I never wanted to say anything from the start and just pretend like I didn't hear what you said but since you want to hear me speak so much, then I have no choice but to tell you that there are times to take things seriously and time to play around".

"Do I look like someone who has the time to play around at a time like this" asked Jason with a frown on his face. 

"Big brother, that is what you have been doing. Just take a good look around, can you see any beast roaming around" asked Hannah as she stare at him while waiting for answers.

"If there are truly beasts roaming in the opening, we would have gone to slay it" replied Jason.

"Good. so tell me big brother why are we still standing here" asked Hannah once more.

"That is because we don't know where the beast could be hiding" replied Jason.

"Alright then, since you already know the answer to that question can you stop bugging me" said Hannah.

Jason couldn't help it when his face twitched.

"But I am telling you right now that I can truly tell if a beast is in our way" replied Jason who seemed to be in tears. 

"Yes you did but that is in the beast boundary but we are no longer there" replied Hannah.

"Why can't you just believe me for once. Dammit this is the reason why I like having Austin around, he would have understood unlike you who hasn't even gone hunting with me" said Jason as he let out a sigh.

"And whose fault is it" asked Hannah as she gave him a look.

"Come on now, if you were to go with me, then who is going to look after our mother" replied Jason, seeing that he is about to bring up another topic that won't be in his favor.

While they were still talking, Clara suddenly picked a stone from the ground and threw it on a spot not too far from them which caught the attention of their two as they turned to look at their mother.

"What are you trying to do, mother" asked Jason.

"Trying to see if it would be safe to head there and to my surprise it is" replied Clara with a smile. 

"You can tell that it is safe for us to head there just by throwing a rock" asked Hannah with a confused look on her face.

"Yes" replied Clara with a nod.

"How can you tell that there is no beast there" asked Hannah.

"Simple, by throwing a rock there I will be able to tell if any beast is hiding there through the movement of the soil but if there is none, it can be considered safe" replied.

"Can that also work" said Jason as he turned to the bracelet for answers.

"Of course, you see beasts are very sensitive to sound and since they heard something close to them, they won't be able to hold themselves back as the only thing they would be thinking of doing is to devour the object" replied the bracelet.

"I think I get it now, but the problem now is how long can we keep it up before we get to the other side of the wasteland," said Jason as he begin to look around them.

"It all depends if you can find enough objects to use as a test since they don't believe in your ability to lead them out of here" replied the bracelet.

"I can't blame them for that since our life is at stake here" said Jason.

After confirming from the bracelet that the area in which the rock landed on was completely safe, Jason turn to his mother as he asked her the question that has been bothering him.

"If we go by this method you came up with, is it possible for us to make it to the other side without running out of rocks".

"I think we should have enough to get us to the other side but we are not continuing now since it is already getting dark" replies Clara as she looks at the sky.